Saturday, May 11, 2019

πŸ“– BIRDING CROATIA 2019 πŸ‡­πŸ‡· ~ DAY 6

☀️☁️22C Saturday 11th May 2019 ~ Today was a rare event thus far, two consecutive days of blue skies, although it did cloud over late afternoon and the rain came overnight.

My new birding friend ~ Not the Hedgehog!
I was up and out just after sunrise and now I have a new friend to accompany me! Not sure where he comes from but he's well behaved, very affectionate and sniffs out certain wildlife, although he stayed well clear of his most recent find.

Black-headed Bunting
The now regular birds were all enjoying the morning sun with plenty of Barn Swallows washing down in a nearby puddle. I seem to add to the local list each day and another new find was when the above Black-headed Bunting suddenly appeared and began to sing, a wonderful experience. I even managed an excellent sound recording of him for my files.  There seemed to be more birds around today, probably the lovely sunshine and by the time I got back for breakfast I was actually in double figures for Red-backed Shrike. I've also discovered that the Black-eared Wheatear singing right outside the door a few days back has a mate and it looks like they may be nesting nearby.

Red-backed Shrike ~ Plenty within the locality
Being just on the outskirts of the Krka National Park, one of eight throughout Croatia we decided to spend the day driving the many off-road tracks, parking up and taking long walks in-between. It was a particularly warm day so lots more than just birds on the wing. The most popular Dragonfly is the Scarce Chaser, which seemed to be everywhere we parked. A wonderful array of Butterflies too included: Glanville FritillaryOrange Tip, Brimstone, Adonis Blue, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Scarce Swallowtail, Swallowtail, Silver-studded Blue, Green Hairstreak, Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper, Southern Speckled Wood, Small Heath, Wall Brown and Southern White Admiral.

Montpellier Snake
The usual Dalmatian Wall Lizards were scurrying around the undergrowth but the best was the mildly venomous Montpellier Snake which scurried across the track in front of us.

The birding was more quality than quantity with the highlights a Goshawk carrying prey and a Bonelli's Eagle, which flew low over the treetops. We did manage to hear a distant Olive-tree Warbler, another bird which like the Great Reed Warbler has a gruff, raucous voice but annoyingly never managed to connect.

Photos of the Day...

Probably a very pale Granville Fritillary

Swallowtail

Scarce Swallowtail

Adonis Blue
Spotted Flycatcher

Spanish Sparrow


My new birding buddy!
Notable Bird Species Seen Today...

Pygmy Cormorant, Squacco Heron, Bonelli's Eagle, Short-toed Eagle, Common Buzzard, Honey Buzzard, Goshawk, Kestrel, Common Swift, Alpine Swift, Pallid Swift, Bee-Eater, Hoopoe, Short-toed Lark, Barn Swallow, Tawny Pipit, Nightingale, Blackcap, Eastern Subalpine Warbler, Cetti's Warbler, Marsh Warbler, Great Reed Warbler, Olive-tree Warbler (h), Spotted Flycatcher, Raven, Hooded Crow, Golden Oriole, Cirl Bunting, Ortolan Bunting, Corn Bunting, Black-headed Bunting